Emmett R. Willis

Emmett R. Willis CENTRAL CITY — Emmett R. Willis, 93, of Central City died Sunday, July 5, 2009, at Muhlenberg Community Hospital in Greenville. He was born Aug. 26, 1915, in Butler County. He was a member of the Calvary Missionary Baptist Church, Central City. He was a business owner and operator in northern Logan County as well as Drakesboro and Central City for more than 17 years. He was also employed as a coal miner and retired from Crescent Coal Mines (Island Creek Coal Co.) in the mid-1970s and he was a Kentucky Colonel. He was preceded in death by his wife, Lydia M. Mahan; parents James T. and Lulu Shepherd Willis; sisters Pauline Cronk, Catherine Melfa and Addie Massie; and two brothers, Paul Willis and Deward Willis. Survivors include two sons, Charles (Joyce) Willis of Central City and David (Janice) Willis of Madisonville; a daughter, Anne Benson of Glasgow; seven grandchildren, Kathy Sparks, Sandy Drake, Penny Roberts, Charlene Fields, Diana Anderson, James Willis and Robin Taylor; 15 great-grandchildren; two great-great-grandchildren; and a sister, Ester Wilkes of Gunthersville, Ala. Services are 2 p.m. Thursday at Tucker Funeral Home, Central City, with the Rev. Don Wilkins officiating. Burial in Rose Hill Cemetery, Central City. Visitation from 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home.